


Just In Case

by perpetualwhim



Category: Trigun
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-07
Updated: 2007-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetualwhim/pseuds/perpetualwhim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I imagine Vash is probably wondering just what the hell I'm doing with a 14mm hollow-point assault round tucked away in my cigarette pack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just In Case

**Author's Note:**

> This is oldfic, backdated to the best of my recollection.

I hear the tiny 'thud' before I realize what I've done, and it's all I can do to keep from cursing out loud.

"What was that?" Vash mumbles sleepily, raising his head off the pillow with enough effort that I'd almost believe it was made of lead. I shrug casually, striking a match and cupping my hand around the tiny drop of flame as I light my cigarette. For a moment, I think he might let it go.

"No, I'm sure I heard something. Was that your cigarettes?" He rolls gracelessly and clambers over me, our bodies still sticky and sliding together in ways that, any other time, would have me thinking dirtier thoughts. I groan inwardly as he fumbles for the pack, and I can tell he's already felt the weight in one end as he holds it in front of his face. He taps it against his palm, and the bullet slides out.

Not that it's any secret I can handle a gun. He's seen that--hell, he's seen me whip twelve of the things right out of the arms of the Cross Punisher--but this is another issue entirely; a secret I'm not ready to reveal. My boss isn't too fond of slip-ups, and when you've just "slipped" enough to actually fall into bed with Vash-the-fucking-Stampede, you start to get a little twitchy about guarding the few secrets you've got left.

I imagine Vash is probably wondering just what the hell I'm doing with a 14mm hollow-point assault round tucked away in my cigarette pack.

To be honest, I'm not sure myself. It's a bitch and a half to load a single round of ammo into the business end of the Punisher, and I've never needed to use it yet. But still, there's something undeniably comforting about knowing that, no matter how fucked you are, you've still got one more.

He weighs it in his palm, frowning slightly, and gives me a curious look. My mind is racing, trying to come up with a plausible explanation while he turns it in his fingers and squints at it. _It's a souvenir from an old girlfriend. I like my smokes to have some heft to them. I thought it was a novelty lighter._ I exhale heavily, smoke filling the air. Pathetic.

And yet it occurs to me that he hasn't asked me what it's for--he's just staring intently at the dull copper casing. There are a million things I could say right now, but I settle for asking a dumb question. "What are you doing?"

His smirk is mischievous, but his eyes are sad. "Looking for a name."

My hand darts out, plucking the thing from his fingers with no small sense of relief. "It's not for anyone, Vash." I slip it back into place in the pack and drop the smokes back on the floor. "It's just...well, just in case."

Amazingly, he leaves it at that, settling down to drape his arm over my waist while I finish my smoke. I watch his face slowly relax into sleep, and I want to tell him everything--where I carry a gun that big, and why, and that I know at least three other guns that round would fit in, none of them mine, and they're all aimed at him.

But stupidity only carries me so far, so I grind out my butt on the windowsill just as he starts to snore. Tucking my secrets away, I wonder how much longer I'll be able to say I've still got one more.


End file.
